Come to Cinema! film poster

Today, we are constantly surrounded by massages from all side and in all possible shapes and forms, and a poster, especially one that provides cultural and artistic content, represents a dying species. It does not move, it does not sing, it does not scream, it is not shining, it is not interactive and we can no click on it. In the past, a poster was the most important and prestigious means of visual communication, even though it appeared as a result of the development of print – the earliest mass production technique. It was admired, and it was an object of desire for many collectors and a showpiece of many designers. A poster was suitable for communicating various contents, and so it soon led to the establishment of thematic posters: theatre, tourist, advertising, and of course film. Its main task was to lure and attract viewers to the cinema to watch films.

Film and poster have always been companions. They were provided by technological development and social conditions. At first, a poster had a very limited duration, much like newspapers today: when it performed its main mission – to inform and address viewers – it was no longer necessary and interesting. The connection with film additionally harm it, because the film was known as fun and entertaining media from the beginning, and thus the film poster did not seem worthy of more attention let alone of systematic collecting and preserving.

Nevertheless, film poster was developed and established as one of important types of visual communication. Thus, many film posters represent the best and the most exciting works in the history of visual communication design. But even other posters, those that are incomplete, unsuccessful, genre-labelled, naïve or clumsy, have their followers who are collecting them with passion. They are also valuable and interesting for those who are thoroughly and comprehensively engaged in film. They are an important document and a source of information, bus also product of differently skilled graphic designers, printing workers and printers.